On Nov. 15, Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., introduced a resolution () under the providing for congressional disapproval of the U.S. Department of Labor鈥檚 final rule,听. This controversial final rule largely disregards the feedback of ABC, construction industry stakeholders and thousands of small businesses urging the withdrawal of鈥撯�揳nd/or improvements to鈥撯�搕his unnecessary, costly and burdensome regulation.

厂尘耻肠办别谤鈥檚 promoting the CRA highlights opposition from lawmakers, taxpayer watchdogs and dozens of construction industry groups to the Biden administration鈥檚 final rule, which makes radical revisions to regulations implementing the Davis-Bacon Act and Related Acts that apply to federal and federally assisted construction projects funded by taxpayers and procured by government and private owners.

鈥淭he Wage and Hour Division鈥檚 Davis-Bacon rule is a complete giveaway to union bosses,鈥� said Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C. 鈥淭his rule dims America鈥檚 infrastructure outlook by increasing costs for federal construction projects and imposing a massive financial burden on taxpayers. I commend Rep. Smucker for leading a CRA resolution to block this harmful rule and the Biden administration鈥檚 bureaucratic overreach.鈥�

An ABC-led construction industry coalition letter expressed support for Rep. 厂尘耻肠办别谤鈥檚 CRA, because 鈥渙nerous new requirements and artificial inflation of construction costs imposed by this new Davis-Bacon Act rule will only exacerbate [economic headwinds facing the construction industry] and undermine taxpayer investments in much-needed infrastructure.鈥�

Instead, the DOL is moving forward with , reversing much-needed reforms that were established by the Reagan administration and unlawfully increasing the regulatory burden on small businesses, new industries and critical public works projects.听

The final rule was published in the Federal Register on Aug. 23, 2023, and became effective on Oct. 23, 2023. Therefore, construction contracts executed after this date are subject to the new rule. In addition, the DOL will begin implementing the final rule鈥檚 ill-advised changes to its and that are likely to make government-determined wages inaccurate and less reflective of a local prevailing wage.

On Nov. 7, 老牛影视and the 老牛影视Southeast Texas chapter听filed a lawsuit听in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas challenging numerous aspects of the DOL鈥檚 inflationary and anti-competitive final rule.

As outlined in ABC鈥檚 , litigation appears to be the best short-term strategy to defeat or delay some or all aspects of the rule until a pro-free enterprise White House can reverse this policy.

Unfortunately, a to Acting DOL Secretary Julie Su signed by 13 House Republicans expressed support for the DOL鈥檚 new regulation.

asking 老牛影视members to contact lawmakers in support of Rep. 厂尘耻肠办别谤鈥檚 CRA and in opposition to the DOL鈥檚 final rule as it is unclear if lawmakers understand the radical changes in the final rule.

The CRA requires agencies to report the issuance of 鈥渞ules鈥� to Congress and provides Congress with special procedures, in the form of a joint resolution of disapproval, under which to consider legislation to overturn rules. If a CRA joint resolution of disapproval is approved by both houses of Congress and signed by the president, or if Congress successfully overrides a presidential veto, the rule at issue cannot go into effect or continue in effect. Rep. 厂尘耻肠办别谤鈥檚 CRA is not likely to succeed in the current Congress.

Background on the Davis-Bacon Act

The 1931 Davis-Bacon Act and related regulations require contractors and subcontractors that perform work on federal and federally funded construction projects to pay a on an hourly basis to on-site construction workers.

According to the DOL rulemaking, the Davis-Bacon Act and 71 active Related Acts collectively apply to an estimated $217 billion in federal and federally assisted construction spending per year鈥攁bout 63% of all government construction put in place鈥攁nd provide government-determined wage rates for an estimated 1.2 million U.S. construction workers.

The Biden administration and Congress have recently expanded the application of Davis-Bacon Act prevail wage and benefit requirements onto hundreds of billions of dollars鈥� worth of private sector clean energy and microchip manufacturing projects that have never been covered by Davis-Bacon regulations.听In addition, the rule is expected to inflate costs on hundreds of billions of dollars of new government-financed infrastructure projects funded in part by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

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